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Does anyone know when universals agreement with marvel ends for their section in IOA. When that happens who thinks marvel gets an expansion into Disney parks??

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Universal's license for Marvel characters does not have an expiration date.

Universal has exclusive theme park rights "East of The Mississippi" for the Marvel characters it is now using and other characters associated with them. As long as Universal's Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA is "operated and maintained in a first class manner consistent with the highest standards of the theme park industry" and Universal continues to pay the licensing fee, Universal has the these rights forever.

Disney could expand Marvel into Disneyland immediately if the company wished to.

And Disney could expand Marvel into Walt Disney World immediately, if the company only used characters that are not being being used by Universal and are not heroes or villains associated with those characters.

Universal is doing an excellent job operating Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is now even more amazing with digital 3-D projection.

Universal's license for Marvel characters does not have an expiration date.

Universal has exclusive theme park rights "East of The Mississippi" for the Marvel characters it is now using and other characters associated with them. As long as Universal's Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA is "operated and maintained in a first class manner consistent with the highest standards of the theme park industry" and Universal continues to pay the licensing fee, Universal has the these rights forever.

Disney could expand Marvel into Disneyland immediately if the company wished to.

And Disney could expand Marvel into Walt Disney World immediately, if the company only used characters that are not being being used by Universal and are not heroes or villains associated with those characters.

Universal is doing an excellent job operating Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is now even more amazing with digital 3-D projection.

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Completely agree. Was just at universal and the new Spider-Man quality is great. Just thinking Disney should take advantage of marvels fan base.... Maybe an iron man ride or Thor.

Just thinking Disney should take advantage of marvels fan base.... Maybe an iron man ride or Thor.

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Universal owns the theme park rights to Ironman and Thor "East of the Mississippi" even though there's not an Ironman or Thor attraction. The agreement applies to characters who part of a "family" that Universal is already using ("e.g., any member of THE FANTASTIC FOUR, THE AVENGERS or villains associated with a hero being used").

Also, Universal features many Marvel characters as artwork on and in the buildings of Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA.

Walt Disney World cannot make theme park use of the top Marvel characters. Walt Disney World could make theme park use of unrelated Marvel characters or new Marvel characters.

For the time being, Disney can simply collect licensing fees from Universal and make money from Marvel merchandise sales at Universal -- without having to invest money in Marvel content at its own theme parks. And the box office numbers for Marvel movies from Disney can benefit from the publicity that Universal provides for those characters. Not bad for Disney, if you think about it.

Universal owns the theme park rights to Ironman and Thor "East of the Mississippi" even though there's not an Ironman or Thor attraction. The agreement applies to characters who part of a "family" that Universal is already using ("e.g., any member of THE FANTASTIC FOUR, THE AVENGERS or villains associated with a hero being used").

Also, Universal features many Marvel characters as artwork on and in the buildings of Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA.

Walt Disney World cannot make theme park use of the top Marvel characters. Walt Disney World could make theme park use of unrelated Marvel characters or new Marvel characters.

For the time being, Disney can simply collect licensing fees from Universal and make money from Marvel merchandise sales at Universal -- without having to invest money in Marvel content at its own theme parks. And the box office numbers for Marvel movies from Disney can benefit from the publicity that Universal provides for those characters. Not bad for Disney, if you think about it.

For the time being, Disney can simply collect licensing fees from Universal and make money from Marvel merchandise sales at Universal -- without having to invest money in Marvel content at its own theme parks. And the box office numbers for Marvel movies from Disney can benefit from the publicity that Universal provides for those characters. Not bad for Disney, if you think about it.[/QUOTE]

Awww! Working smarter and not harder. Now, if only they would put some of that Marvel moolah into stepping up their resort game. The quality is going down but the price keep rising.

Universal owns the theme park rights to Ironman and Thor "East of the Mississippi" even though there's not an Ironman or Thor attraction. The agreement applies to characters who part of a "family" that Universal is already using ("e.g., any member of THE FANTASTIC FOUR, THE AVENGERS or villains associated with a hero being used").

Also, Universal features many Marvel characters as artwork on and in the buildings of Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA.

Walt Disney World cannot make theme park use of the top Marvel characters. Walt Disney World could make theme park use of unrelated Marvel characters or new Marvel characters.

For the time being, Disney can simply collect licensing fees from Universal and make money from Marvel merchandise sales at Universal -- without having to invest money in Marvel content at its own theme parks. And the box office numbers for Marvel movies from Disney can benefit from the publicity that Universal provides for those characters. Not bad for Disney, if you think about it.

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which is why the Avengers monorail was on the resort loop as it could not go thru the parks aka the Epcot loop

Correct if Im wrong but Disney must approve any changes or new attractions to Marvel land at IOA. And they wont allow any so at some point in the distant future Universal will give them up

Couldn't Disney raise the licensing fees to the point that Universal gives up on the Marvel association. Or maybe they could require Universal to put the Disney name in the copyright area of each licensed Marvel attraction.

Correct if Im wrong but Disney must approve any changes or new attractions to Marvel land at IOA. And they wont allow any so at some point in the distant future Universal will give them up

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According to the agreement, "This Marvel-themed complex would be designed in coordination with Marvel, and all major elements and themes would be subject to Marvel's reasonable approval." Marvel also needs to approve marketing artwork.

The agreement is still in effect. All that has changed is who owns Marvel and who owns Universal.

I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that Marvel has to act in good faith. Marvel cannot veto everything just to hurt Universal.

The other side of the issue is whether Universal would still want to invest in major enhancements to Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA, beyond keeping up with technology. Universal is investing heavily in their parks -- enhancements based on Harry Potter, The Simpson's, Transformers, and Despicable Me -- but the Marvel Super Hero Island enhancement has been limited to replacing Spider-Man's 3-D film projection with 3-D digital projection.

Couldn't Disney raise the licensing fees to the point that Universal gives up on the Marvel association. Or maybe they could require Universal to put the Disney name in the copyright area of each licensed Marvel attraction.

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The annual fee is fixed in the agreement, but the dollar amount is confidential and has been removed from the document filed with the SEC. The agreement also commits Universal to sell Marvel merchandise and to pay at least the guaranteed royalties. The percentage and the dollar amount are again confidential.

Marvel Entertainment, LLC is owned by The Walt Disney Company, but it's still its own business entity. Marvel has several major business units, including Marvel Worldwide (comic books) and Marvel Studios. The copyright to the intellectual property of Marvel is held by Marvel, not by directly by The Walt Disney Company.

According to the agreement, "This Marvel-themed complex would be designed in coordination with Marvel, and all major elements and themes would be subject to Marvel's reasonable approval." Marvel also needs to approve marketing artwork.

The agreement is still in effect. All that has changed is who owns Marvel and who owns Universal.

I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that Marvel has to act in good faith. Marvel cannot veto everything just to hurt Universal.

The other side of the issue is whether Universal would still want to invest in major enhancements to Marvel Super Hero Island at IOA, beyond keeping up with technology. Universal is investing heavily in their parks -- enhancements based on Harry Potter, The Simpson's, Transformers, and Despicable Me -- but the Marvel Super Hero Island enhancement has been limited to replacing Spider-Man's 3-D film projection with 3-D digital projection.

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it must bother Universal to some degree that for every t-shirt they sell Disney gets some money

Does anyone know when universals agreement with marvel ends for their section in IOA. When that happens who thinks marvel gets an expansion into Disney parks??

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Just this side of "Never".

Unless Universal wants it to end.

The provision is in perpetuity, unless/until Universal decides they want to end it. As long as they maintain the rides to a certain standard and pay their licensing fees....there is no end date.

Now, they can't build anything NEW in IOA without Marvels reasonable approval (meaning the process to gain approval needs to be reasonable, not that Marvel needs to be reasonable in it's decision). But Marvel Island is going nowhere until Universal decides they've had enough of it.

I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that Marvel has to act in good faith. Marvel cannot veto everything just to hurt Universal.

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Actually,they can. I mean..they likely can't come out and SAY it's because they want to thumb their nose at Universal...but they don't really have to.

Reasonable approval refers to the process of seeking approval, not in the decision making, itself.

In other words: Marvel can't require Universal to pay them a million dollars in ones, while spinning around in circles, and simultaneously spinning 16 plates in the air just to seek approval for a project. They have to provide a process that is reasonable, and does not require undue effort (see above) or circumstances (ie: only submitted on the 3rd Tuesday of June in a leap year) to complete .

But once Universal starts the reasonable submission process (fills out the necessary forms and submits them with a detailed project plan)...Marvel can approve or reject more or less at their whim. They own the IPs, so they can be as fickle or permissive as they wish.

Actually,they can. I mean..they likely can't come out and SAY it's because they want to thumb their nose at Universal...but they don't really have to.

Reasonable approval refers to the process of seeking approval, not in the decision making, itself.

In other words: Marvel can't require Universal to pay them a million dollars in ones, while spinning around in circles, and simultaneously spinning 16 plates in the air just to seek approval for a project. They have to provide a process that is reasonable, and does not require undue effort (see above) or circumstances (ie: only submitted on the 3rd Tuesday of June in a leap year) to complete .

But once Universal starts the reasonable submission process (fills out the necessary forms and submits them with a detailed project plan)...Marvel can approve or reject more or less at their whim. They own the IPs, so they can be as fickle or permissive as they wish.

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Yes! I guess what I'm getting at is say, hypothetically, Disney group goes to marvel and says if that agreement gets cancelled we will be a land/park whatever(just spitballing here) that is entirely dedicated to marvel characters. Marvel can realistically do whatever they want can't they? Could marvel end the agreement with universal if it means putting the company in a better place?

Yes! I guess what I'm getting at is say, hypothetically, Disney group goes to marvel and says if that agreement gets cancelled we will be a land/park whatever(just spitballing here) that is entirely dedicated to marvel characters. Marvel can realistically do whatever they want can't they? Could marvel end the agreement with universal if it means putting the company in a better place?

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Nope, they can't end the agreement.

They can only "not approve" expansions, additional attractions, or significant changes to existing attractions that Universal proposes for IOA.

Disney and marvel could spitball any "what if" scenario they want. The thing is: Until/Unless the agreement is nullified by Universal, it's sort of a waste of resources/manpower to do it. I'm sure there's some folks itching with blue sky ideas...but I doubt they'll spend much time on them when there is other, more "productive" work to be done.

Sorry guys, but I think the Marvel contract with Universal is ending sooner than later. There's more to the quick build of the Transformers (very similar to Spider-Man) than they're telling. In a recent interview, Bob Iger admitted that they are limited to what they can do with Marvel in WDW and DL. But, he also said that there was behind the scenes talk about "assuring the Marvel legacy". Still, I think it will be a while before we see any big Marvel attractions at WDW. According to several sources that I've read, Disney was already at work designing a Star Wars theme park for WDW when they first made the merger announcement. My question is more about what will happen if Disney buys Hasbro and has the Transformers rights?